


Rolling Thunder

by chaostheoryy



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Banter, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Hotels, Just wanted to write for one of my favorite tropes, M/M, Sharing a Bed, Thunderstorms, Very light shipping (like blink and you might miss it)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-16 02:57:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20172622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaostheoryy/pseuds/chaostheoryy
Summary: Ryan once again subjects himself to sleeping in a haunted house for the sake of Unsolved. However, when the thunderstorm becomes too much for him to handle, he convinces Shane to abandon their post and seek shelter in a nearby hotel.





	Rolling Thunder

A roar of thunder rolled through the sky outside, shaking the old hillside home with the ease of an earthquake. The glass pendants on the chandelier hanging overhead jingled and the loose floorboards creaked as they resettled. Each and every little sound that echoed through the house sent another shiver up Ryan’s spine.

“I fucking hate this.”

Shane groaned in the darkness somewhere to his left.

“How can you even sleep through this shit?” Ryan mumbled, “It’s like someone stuck a subwoofer in my sleeping bag!”

Ryan heard a chuckle escape Shane’s lips. “Thunderstorms I can handle. Your whining, on the other hand…Kinda hard to tune out.” He groaned yet again as he rolled over. “But I’m getting there…”

Another vicious rumble of thunder ripped through the air like a monstrous, invisible cobra slithering between the clouds.

“Jesus-!”

Ryan took a deep, steadying breath. No matter how much he told himself there was nothing to worry about, he couldn’t find himself anywhere near being at ease. How the hell was he supposed to just “chill out” when he was sleeping on the floor in a rundown home where three people went absolute batshit crazy and killed themselves? Oh, not to mention the fact that the sky was practically shouting at him every 90 seconds.

Thunder tore through the sky again but this time, the jostled chandelier lost one of its glass pendants. The piece fell to the floor no more than two feet from Shane’s head, shattering instantly.

Ryan clambered into a sitting position. “Holy shit!”

Shane groggily tilted his head up to look in the direction of the commotion. “Nice aim, ghouls,” he grumbled, clearly too tired to rip them a new one for their miss, “A little more to your right next time, alright?”

Ryan wasn’t amused one bit. “Don’t you fucking play with me right now, Shane,” he said sharply, “That thing almost fell on your face!”

“But it didn’t.”

Ryan’s teeth nearly ground together as he scowled. With an incomprehensible mumble of displeasure, he got on his knees and yanked Shane by the arm. “Let’s go.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Shane murmured, reluctantly sitting up, “Where are we going?”

“To an Air BnB, or a hotel, or literally wherever the fuck I have to go to get the hell away from here!”

Ryan watched Shane’s moonlit hand run through hair. “Ryan, it’s three in the morning. Just a couple more hours and the crew will be back to wrap up-“

“I’m not waiting around in this hellhole for a ‘couple more hours’.” He stood up and held his hand out toward his counterpart. “Are you coming with me or are you going to let this monster house concuss you with a chandelier?”

With another sigh, Shane took Ryan’s hand. “Fine,” he said as he let Ryan help him to his feet, “I’ll just have to table my murder ’til next season.”

* * *

They ended up at a tiny motel a few miles down the road. The buildings were aged with chipping paint and faded numbers but, as far as Ryan was concerned, its atmosphere was leaps and bounds over that of the old house they’d been cooped up in for the past six hours.

Upon greeting them in their rain-soaked coats, the receptionist at the front desk informed them that the only rooms that remained available were single beds. Ryan frowned but Shane seemed completely unfazed as he took her offer for the room with the pool view.

The second they were in the room, Shane dropped his bag in the corner, removed his sopping shoes and jacket, grabbed two of the pillows from the bed and laid down on the floor without so much as a word.

Ryan stood over him with an incredulous look on his face.

“What are you doing?”

“Ryan, for once in my life, I am _begging_ you to let me sleep in peace.” He rolled over onto his side and curled his lanky legs up toward his stomach.

Ryan put his hands on his hips, shaking his head like a judgmental mother. “You’re unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath.

With a resigned sigh, Ryan got settled for the night. He placed his bag on one of the chairs in the corner and neatly draped his coat over the bathroom door to dry. The thunder outside had settled to a dull roar as the storm rolled through the town, allowing the gentle patter of rain to become the primary focus of Ryan’s surroundings. There were no creaking floorboards and no jingling chandeliers to keep him awake now.

As Ryan stepped out of the bathroom, he gazed down at Shane. Sure enough, he was already fast asleep with his nose scrunched against the pillow. Ryan rolled his eyes. If there was one thing Shane could be labeled as a professional at, it would be sleeping.

Ryan stood at the edge of the bed and eyed the awaiting expanse of the mattress. God, he wanted to climb under those sheets so badly. But it just wasn’t fair. How could he in good conscience sleep in a perfectly good bed while Shane slept on the floor?

Without allowing his brain the opportunity to second guess itself, he grabbed the comforter and ripped it off the bed. He draped it on the floor next to Shane, careful not to disturb his sleeping companion, and formed it into a makeshift sleeping bag. Then, after turning off the light and grabbing the remaining pillows from the bed, he settled down in his temporary nest beside Shane.

Ryan nestled his head deeper into the pillow and exhaled. He had to admit the set up wasn’t all that bad. The bed would have been the real icing on the cake, especially for his lower back, but the carpeted floor and thick comforter was significantly better than laying on wooden floor boards in his shitty Sports Authority sleeping bag.

Ryan closed his eyes and focused on the steady rainfall outside. White noise always helped him sleep…

“What are you doing?”

Ryan nearly jumped at the sound of Shane’s voice. He turned his head and was surprised to find Shane staring directly at him.

“Would you stop scaring the shit out of me?” Ryan said defensively, “One of these trips you’re going to give me a fucking heart attack.”

“Get off the floor and climb in the bed,” Shane grumbled.

Ryan turned his head back to face forward and stare at the ceiling in defiance. “I’m fine, Shane. Just go back to sleep.”

“I’m serious, man. I paid for the room so you would quit flipping out and sleep in a bed.” Shane’s voice was hoarse with exhaustion but Ryan could definitely tell Shane was losing patience with him. “Get up there.”

Ryan wanted to. He really did. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to let himself be a total asshole and force his best friend to sleep on the floor while he lived the high life on a pillow top. So, he didn’t answer and simply rolled over until his back was to Shane.

“You’re really going to make me do this?”

Ryan refused to respond.

“Fine,” Shane said quietly. “You leave me no choice.”

Suddenly, a pair of hands slipped underneath Ryan’s body and hoisted him up into the air like a warehouse forklift heaving a pallet of boxes. As Shane shifted him into position for a bridal carry, Ryan wasn’t sure whether he should be impressed or furious.

“Shane, put me down,” he said sharply.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m putting you down.”

He took no more than five steps before tossing Ryan onto the bed with a grunt.

“Thanks for manhandling me, Sasquatch.”

“I wouldn’t have had to manhandle you if you’d just listen to me for once,” Shane replied, “Now go to sleep or I’m dropping you back off at the house and keeping the room to myself.”

Ryan rolled his eyes as Shane turned back toward his pathetic dwelling on the floor. “Don’t sleep on the floor, you psycho. They probably haven’t vacuumed in weeks. You really wanna come out of this trip with pink eye?”

“Pink eye or no pink eye, all I want is some sleep.”

Ryan quickly crawled across the bed and grabbed the hem of Shane’s shirt before his counterpart could lay down. “I’m serious, Shane, just get on the fucking bed.”

Shane cocked his brow. “Oh, you’re spinning this around on me now?”

Ryan scoffed. “I’m just trying to be fair, alright?”

Shane stood there for a moment, eyes flicking between the mattress and Ryan. Then, with a sigh, he caved. “Alright, fine.”

He grabbed the pillows and comforter off the floor and tossed them back on the bed so Ryan could put them back in place. Ryan slid as far to the right side of the mattress as he could before Shane climbed onto the bed beside him. Ryan watched as he settled down with another breathy sigh.

“Just promise me you’re not gonna slap me with a ‘no homo’ if I wake up to find you cuddling me,” Shane mumbled quietly.

Ryan felt his cheeks heat up. “I’m not gonna-“ He folded his hands over his stomach and inched even farther to his right. “You’re all limbs. It’d be like cuddling a giant pair of chopsticks.”

Ryan heard a soft huff of laughter from Shane’s side of the bed. “Bold choice of words coming from a ‘little spoon’.”

Ryan furrowed his brow despite the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth and slid his foot over to kick the side of Shane’s leg. “Shut up.”

“Come on, you’re like four feet tall. You must be at least six foot to qualify for ‘big spoon’ status.”

“I’m 5’10”, asshole.”

“Two inches too short, buddy. You’ll just have to wait for your growth spurt.”

Ryan couldn’t stifle his laugh no matter how hard he tried. “You’re the worst, y’know that?”

Ryan could practically _hear_ the satisfied smile on Shane’s face as he replied, “I know.” The mattress shifted as Shane rolled over onto his side. “But that’s why you love me.”

Ryan blinked at Shane’s words. Of course Shane didn’t mean he loved him like _that_, but something about the matter-of-fact statement made Ryan feel like he’d been exposed. His heart seemed to beat harder in his chest. What was he even supposed to say to that?

“If that’s what helps you sleep at night,” he replied, “Then you keep telling yourself that.”

“Oh, Ryan, you have such a way with words,” Shane teased drowsily, “Have you considered romantic poetry?”

“Okay, now I regret trying to be the nice guy and letting you up here.”

“Alright, alright,” Shane surrendered, “I’m done.”

“Thank God.” Ryan rolled onto his side and nestled into his pillow. “Good night, Shane.”

“G’night.”

Ryan fell asleep to the sound of gentle rain and the soft whisper of Shane’s breath. That night, not even the distant rolling thunder could wipe the smile from his face when he felt Shane’s back press against his own.


End file.
